When Doctor Meets Nurse
by poeticgrace
Summary: When Matt and Elizabeth find their relationships at an impasse, they begin to look for something in each other.
1. Chapter 1

Matt was defeated. After months – no, make that _years_ – of hard work, everything had finally paid off. With its ability to actually save lives, his research was making its mark. The entire oncology community was taking notice of the paradigm-shifting discoveries he had made over the past several months, culminating in today's announcement that he was the recipient of a very significant grant that would give him leverage, distinction and respect among his colleagues. All of this had happened, and his girlfriend couldn't be bothered enough to care.

It seemed like there was always something. Spinelli's recovery, Jason's accident, Sam's wedding, Kate's magazine crisis, Robin's insecurities, Mac's concerns – all of it ranked above Matt. He was supposed to be the one person she loved most, but he seemed to always be her lowest priority. Maxie had missed his celebration dinner, his issues with Patrick and pretty much everything else that had happened over the past month. He got that these people meant a lot to her; he really and truly understood. He just didn't know when he quit mattering to her.

He's thinking all these things when he spots a pretty brunette nurse making her way to where Matt was watching the rest of the wedding guests, with her easy smile and the causal way her hips swing in her dark red dress as she watches him watching her. Elizabeth was a good friend. She had been one to Patrick and then to Robin and now to him. He appreciated her willingness to always listen and the way that she confided in him and how comfortable she felt being not-so-perfect around him. He liked the way that she trusted him with secrets she couldn't tell anyone and how good it felt knowing that she was inexplicably, unconditionally, absolutely on his side. It just felt nice.

"Hey there, Dr. Hunter," she greeted him with a wide smile that reached all the way to her pretty green eyes. Matt almost felt at home in those eyes and understood how many of the strongest men of Port Charles had fallen victim to their allure. Elizabeth had that kind of innate beauty that wars were waged over. She had all this without knowing, and that only made it that much more sexy. "You look like you have the entire world at your feet. You get some good news?"

"Only the best," he acknowledged by tipping his champagne glass in her general direction. Elizabeth's eyes glittered with happiness and he knew that she meant it. She was genuinely glad for him without knowing what it was about. "What are you doing here? I didn't know if you would make it given the circumstances..."

Elizabeth looked down at her feet and then back up at Matt. He saw a little sadness dwelling in her gaze, masked by the feigned happiness she had for the bride and groom. "It's the second wedding I've watched this year where a man I loved committed his life to someone else. Funnily enough, it gets easier," she joked. Matt smiled at her before glancing toward Maxie, who was laughing openly at something Spinelli had just said as she adjusted his pale blue tie. "But this one was different. When Jason was having the surgery, I had this kind of epiphany. I know now that no matter what happened, he and I never were going to end up together. Not really, anyhow. I am so grateful for the time we shared, but it's not the fated love story I used to think it was... No matter how hard I try, Jason was never going to be Lucky."

"Speaking of Lucky, how is that going?" Matt asked as he took a long sip of his champagne. Elizabeth had a hard summer, to say the least. She was also the most selfless person he knew. Amidst her own grief, she had been strong enough to push it aside to help her former husband.

She nodded gingerly as she looked off into the distance. "Truthfully, I've barely seen him since he showed up on the docks," she shrugged. "He didn't even come with me to the hospital, you know? It kind of felt like you cared more than anyone else did."

Matt remembered the way his stomach had twisted when he had found out that Maxie and Elizabeth had been kidnapped. Elizabeth knew too much about everything that was going on with the drug ring, putting her in real danger. "Yeah, well, I'm just glad that you're safe. That you're both safe," he corrected himself as he nodded toward his girlfriend. "But enough about that. I have some big news, something that needs to be celebrated. Why should Jason and Sam be the only one to kick up their heels tonight?"

"They shouldn't," Elizabeth said decidedly before accepting the outstretched glass of champagne from Matt. "What are we toasting?"

"You are looked at the latest NCI fellow," he announced proudly. "I got the grant from the Institute!"

Elizabeth covered her mouth for a moment before launching herself in Matt's arms. "Oh, Matt, that is wonderful!" she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. "I am so proud of you! That's amazing!"

Every word came out excited, and for the first time, it felt really great to have this accomplishment. Someone else cared beside him. Telling Elizabeth meant more than telling Robin, Patrick or Maxie could have. "Thank you," he chuckled as she pulled back and gazed up at him proudly. "I haven't told anyone else yet. I didn't want to take away from the happy couple."

"Well, we are definitely celebrating," she told him matter-of-factly. "You grab Maxie, I'll get Robin and Patrick. We can go over to Jake's for some drinks."

Matt glanced at where his brother was dancing with his wife. The two of them had had a rough time this past year. They decided a night of happiness. Maxie was still too wrapped up in Spinelli to even notice that he was still there. "Nah, they all look like they're having a good time. Besides, I'd rather just celebrate with you," he told her with a shy grin. Matt definitely had a way about him. Patrick wasn't the only one who had inherited their father's way with girls. "Why don't we just go back to your house? I am sure you would rather be home with the boys than at some bar. We could hang out with them, eat some cookies, drink some chocolate milk. And when they're in bed, I can tell you all about my grant. More than anything, I really just want to tell someone about it."

Elizabeth's stomach did this funny little flutter thing when Matt suggested spending time with her sons. It wasn't nerves about bringing someone new around Cam and Aidan or concern than Lucky would get the wrong idea or disappointment about having a wild night out. It was happiness that someone understood her. "Frankly, that sounds kind of amazing," she conceded. "We'd have to go by and get them from Gram's. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Honestly, Elizabeth, I can't think of anything else I would rather do."


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth sat in the overstuffed armchair in the corner, watching as Cameron and Matt pushed metal cars around on the floor while Aidan built block towers for them to knock down. It was the happiest she had seen her boys in awhile and probably the most normal everything had been since Jake died. It was a quiet kind of comfort that she had lost over the past several months. Life had just thrown catastrophe after catastrophe her way, and the only calm she had found amid that storm was in Matt. She never would have gone looking for all of this in him, but as fate would have it, it had found her.

The clock on the mantle suddenly chimed, indicating the late hour. Elizabeth reluctantly tossed the blanket off her lap and bent down to scoop up Aidan. "Alright, boys, it's time for bed," she announced as she balanced her youngest son her hip. Cameron started to plead for ten more minutes when he noted the stern look in his mother's eyes. Ducking his head, he quickly picked up the toys scattered across the rug and put them in the toy box beneath the window seat. "Tell Matt thank you for playing and head up to brush your teeth. I'll be right behind you."

Cameron ambled over like a ball of energy to throw his arms around Matt. "Thanks for playing, Matt!" he said cheerfully before hugging him one last time. He rushed up the stairs and a moment later, Elizabeth could hear the faucet running in the bathroom.

"Give me a minute to get the boys settled in," she told him. "I'll be right back down."

"Need a hand?" he asked, nodding toward the staircase. "I read a mean bedtime story. I could help get Cam into bed while you put Aidan down. It might speed up the whole process."

Elizabeth grinned genuinely and nodded. "That would be great. I feel a little bad for not putting them to bed earlier, but it felt like a special occasion. I wanted to enjoy watching them play," she confessed as she headed up to the second floor. Cameron was standing on the small stool making faces at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth. "Quit playing, Cam. If you hurry up, Matt is going to read you a story."

She left the two of them alone while she headed into Aidan's room to start getting him to sleep. She still liked to rock him some nights, sitting quietly by the big window so that she could stare up at the moon. It was comforting to her at times and especially tonight, as the sound of Matt and Cameron's voices drifted down the hall. She missed this, having someone work aside her to take care of the boys. She knew that it was a one-night-only performance but she still appreciated it nonetheless. It was nice to be part of a team, to have a partner, when you're used to always going it along.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt switched off Cameron's lamp and quietly closed the door behind him. The boys were great, so fun and sweet and innocent to all the bad the world could contain. He really enjoyed being around them and spending time with Elizabeth. It gave him a glimpse at the childhood that he never had and the one he hoped that his kids would. Elizabeth was a great mother, the type of woman most men want to have a family with. He tried to imagine being this domestic with Maxie and failed. That was never going to be the life she was intended to live.

He paused outside the door to the nursery and listened as Elizabeth softly sang an old Joni Mitchell song while she rocked her son. A small lamp beside her was the only light in the otherwise dark room, but he could still see her face. Her eyes were closed as she rocked him. He probably stood there a good five minutes leaned against the door jamb watching her before she opened them. A slow smile lit her face and Matt felt a twinge in his hear that told him that everything was going to be different.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth joined him downstairs on the couch. He had already started the kettle to make hot chocolate and had found her stash of cookies in the pumpkin cookie jar on the corner. "These are amazing," he said between bites, holding up a chocolate chip cookie in her honor. Elizabeth giggled as she collapsed onto the couch, tucking her feet beneath her. Leaning her head on her hand, she gazed over at him with the same smile she'd worn upstairs. "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, it was," she agreed. "Thanks for being so great with the boys. They miss Lucky. With everything that has been going on, he hasn't been able to be around much. First it was Siobhan and then the pills. I know that they miss him… I don't know. I don't want to keep them from their father. Lucky is a really great dad. But when he is with them, his focus has to be on them. We learned that lesson the hard way already once. I won't risk it again."

Matt heard what she wasn't voicing. She could tell an entire story without saying Jake's name a single time, but it didn't change its meaning. "Well, they're not hard to spend time with. You're boys are amazing," he complimented her. "You've done a great job with them."

Elizabeth smiled. "They definitely make me look good," she agreed. "So tell me more about your grant. I put you to work as soon as we got here, so you haven't gotten to give me all the mundane and boring details that only us medical types could appreciate."

And so he delved into the story of how he was awarded the grant and all the details of who was on the panel that decided. He talked about how he will use the money and what type of research he thinks will be helpful and about working with a few grad students at PCU to help do some of the grunt work. He told her about the patients he would get to work with and what it meant for the oncology program at the hospital. She listened intently to his passionate explanation, taking each detail in and asking questions intermittently that let him know that she was really paying attention. When he had finally exhausted talking about the protocol he wanted to explore, he relaxed back into the sofa and smiled contently like a full man after an appetizing feast.

"Wow, Matt, that is amazing," she told him. "Why haven't you told Maxie all this again? Or your brother or even Robin? They'd be proud of you."

"You know why," he shrugged. "Up to this point, you're the one who has really paid any attention to my research. They're too caught up in other stuff. This is huge for me. I don't want to waste my enthusiasm telling people who will brush it off."'

What she heard, what he didn't say, was that he didn't want to be let down. These were the people that loved him, and Elizabeth knew what it was like firsthand to have that kind of excitement lost on someone else. It's like trying to explain to someone why she loves art so much. "Well, I am glad you told me," she said. "And I'm honored. This is really great. I am glad we're friends."

Matt noticed her smile then. It was one of those smiles where you both know it's a lie but neither of you wants to – _is ready to_ – admit it yet. It showed her quiet disappointment in his family and perhaps even in Lucky for putting them both in this situation. It gave him a hint of this underlying anger that doesn't let her believe in much outside what she knows to be infinitely true. It also showed him that she smiled to cover up unshed tears. It showed him all of this and maybe that they weren't just friends. Maybe there was something more, something real, something deeper than either of them could have ever predicted. Maybe, just maybe, what was there was something that would finally give them both a little bit of hope.


	3. Chapter 3

"I broke up with Maxie."

Elizabeth was standing behind the computer at the nurse's station when she heard those words. Her fingers stopped in mid-type, hovering just above the keys. Her eyes slowly met Matt's as a timid smile spread across her wholesome face. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said kindly. "I know that you guys had hit a rough patch lately, but I was really thinking that you all might be able to work it out."

Matt shrugged as he dropped a stack of charts on the desk. "Well, you know, these things happen," he brushed it off. The truth was that the breakup had been long and messy but completely necessary after the night he had shared with Elizabeth three days ago. It was only after being there with her at her house that he saw a glimpse at what a relationship should be. "The truth is that we haven't been happy together for awhile. I care about Maxie a lot, but her priorities are different than they were a few months ago. Well, maybe that's not true, but mine definitely are."

He wasn't the only one who was left feeling different, _better_, after everything that had happened between them recently. That night was one of the most intimate of her life, and that ws saying a lot given her romantic roster. What amazed her even more was that nothing had happened. They had spent the entire night talking before eventually falling asleep separately on her sofa. They had shared coffee and breakfast with the boys the next morning before Matt headed to the hospital for his shift and Elizabeth took Cameron to school. It was so natural, so much like a family, that it scared her just a little. It also thrilled her.

"Do you want to talk about it? I have a break coming up. We could get a coffee if you need a shoulder," she offered. The last thing she wanted to hear was Matt wax poetic about Maxie, but if he needed a friend, she would be a friend.

"Actually, I was thinking that maybe I could ask you out," he told her softly. Elizabeth's eyes went wide, sending a small chuckle up Matt's throat. He reached for her wrist and led her away from the station and the prying eyes and ears of Epiphany. "I have these tickets to the circus. I got them from my building manager. I was planning on taking Emma and Robin, but she came down with a cold. What do you say, do you think the boys would like them?"

Elizabeth felt a twist of something familiar – that same something familiar that visited her a few days ago – as she mulled over his offer. Here was this great guy, a doctor no less, asking her and her boys out. "Matt…" Her voice drifted off as small tears wet her eyes. She felt silly for tearing up so easily, but the whole thing was just sweet. "You don't have to do this. I'm okay, really. I know that I was a mess for awhile. You were a great friend to me. You don't have to keep taking care of me."

"That's not what I'm trying to do," he said softly, his voice deep and thick. "Elizabeth, a guy would have to be crazy not to notice how great you are. I know that you have a lot going on. I won't even begin to understand. What I do know, however, is you've helped me more than you probably know. I just want to pay you back a little and spend some time with the boys. I had a lot of fun playing with them. Let me do this, please, if not for you then for them."

"Guilt trip, very nice," she acknowledged. "Okay, a day at the circus would be fun. I'm sure the boys would love it. But you have to let me pay for lunch, I insist."

Maxie never offered to pay for a meal. It wasn't like Elizabeth had extra money laying around, but she was generous. It was just another thing Matt liked about her, not that he had to look hard. "Fine, alright, but I'm not quite done," he told her. "I was wondering what you are doing next Saturday evening? I checked the schedule, so I know you're off. Do you have any other plans?"

Elizabeth scanned her brain for a minute before shaking her head. "None that I can think of," she answered. "Why?"

"Well, I just got some more big news," he grinned. "I'm being published."

"What?" she cried excitedly, covering her face in her hand. "You're on a roll."

"Yeah, this writer from a really great medical journal read about my grant and asked to see some of my findings. I sent it over a couple days ago and then I just received word this morning."

Elizabeth pulled Matt into her arms for a long hug, burying her face in his chest as she squeezed him tightly. She leaned back to meet his dark eyes. "I am so proud of you," she whispered to him as he leaned his chin on top of her head.

Matt resisted the urge to place a kiss on her forehead and instead opted to cup her cheek gently. "Thank you," he replied. "So will you go with me?"

"You never told me where we'd be going."

"There's sort of this dinner, a thing with some of the hospital administrators and the Journal and then a few people from NCI who helped me get the grant. It's in the city. I was hoping you'd be my date."

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment as dreams of pretty beaded gowns and stimulating conversation danced in her head. This was different from any other first date she'd been on. Matt was also different from any other man who had pursued her. He was nice. He wasn't too complicated, save for a few brotherly issues. He didn't have a criminal record, a vendetta or list of aliases. His ego was average for a surgeon and he didn't seem like the selfish type. Most of all, he was safe. And he made her feel safe.

"I would love to be your date."

"Just for the record, is this as friends or, you know, as something more?"

"What do you think, Dr. Hunter?"

" I think that I hope that it's the latter but that I could be happy with the former."

"I think that you won't be disappointed," she smiled kindly. "I'm really liking spending time with you, and I am already looking forward to our date. In fact, I already have the perfect dress in mind."


	4. Chapter 4

"I want to see a stegosaurus."

"Cam, I told you, dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years," Elizabeth reminded her son gently as they stood in front of the building that housed the lizards. After a trip to the circus last week, Matt had been brave enough to volunteer to go to the zoo with them for a late autumn visit before many of the exhibits became too cold to visit for the year. "What about snakes? There are a lot at the Reptile Center. We can even see a komodo dragon."

"It's not a stegosaurus," he pouted, pushing his bottom lip out just enough that it reminded her of Zander for a moment.

There were times when Elizabeth could catch glimpses at her eldest's biological father and she missed him. He had been a good friend to her, and it was easy to forget just what he had meant to her at that time in her life. That lost summer, after Emily left and when she had first started to fall a little for Jason, she had spent a lot of time with Zander. They didn't reconnect until that fateful Halloween night that had given her the most amazing gift of her life. Right now, however, she reminded also of Zander's stubborn streak, which seemed to be culiminating in her son being angry that she couldn't produce a miracle.

"I'll tell you what, buddy," Matt bargained. "Why don't we check out the rest of the zoo and then visit the gift shop? They might have a stegosaurus in there. If not, I bet we can find something pretty cool for you and your brother. What do you think? Will that work?"

Cameron thought for a moment before his face lit up. "Yeah, that sounds like it'd work," he decided as he looked up at Elizabeth hopefully. She was careful to never over indulge the boys, something that had become very hard after losing Jake. She found herself constantly wanting to give them everything but knew that it wouldn't be good for them in the long run. "Is that okay, Mommy?"

Elizabeth glanced at Matt and nodded thoughtfully. "I think that picking out one thing each would be okay," she told him. "But you know the rules."

"Say thank you, pick carefully and don't argue with Mommy," Cam recited from memory. It was the same set of three rules she had used on countless trips to the toy store or in the sweet aise at the grocery store. "Can we go see the monkeys now?"

"Monkeys, that we can do," Matt told him as Cameron slid his little hand in his much larger one. Matt felt this warmth from inside him as Cameron's tiny fingers tightened around his. It was a sight not lost on Elizabeth, who caught his eye and smiled as she pushed Aidan behind them in her stroller. He loved seeing her like this – so relaxed and happy. She looked free for the first time in months and she wore that kind of happines well.

After they had toured the monkeys and other primates, Aidan started to fuss and Cameron wanted something to drink and Elizabeth decided that it was time for lunch. She had stowed a full picnic lunch beneath the stroller, something Matt found surprisingly sexy. They found an empty patch of grass on the expansive shaded lawn next to the giraffes and zebras. Matt and Cameron set to work unfolding the blanket while Aidan giggled from the stroller and Elizabeth unpacked their picnic basket. Cold fried chicken for the adults and peanut butter sandwiches for the boys accompanied apple slices, carrot sticks, string cheese and juice boxes. For dessert, she had packed away a fresh batch of brownies. Matt hadn't had the pleasure of the chocolate decadence, and she decided it was time to trot out one of the things she did best in the world.

"Did you make this chicken yourself?" Matt asked as he bit into a drumstick, his second piece.

Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Gram's recipe. It was my grandfather's favorite. She used to make it every Sunday afternoon when he was alive. They would have it after church, and then she would serve him warm apple pie in the winter and peach cobbler in the summer. Either way, she always had homemade vanilla ice cream. It's one of my favorite traditions."

It was a homey little detail that was completely left out of Matt's childhood. About the only tradition his mother had ever managed before she died was peanut butter honey toast when he was sick. She had tried but had never really been all that conventional and definitely wasn't much of a cook. "That sounds nice, very comforting," he told her with a warm glint in his eye. "I like that you have these traditions, these really great memories." He knew that her own childhood had been sprinkled with move after move because of the life her parents had chosen. Settling down and building a life in Port Charles with Audrey had been a very fortunate blessing for her. "I hope that I can give my kids that someday."

"Well, I'm working on it," she replied, and he wasn't sure for a moment if she meant her boys or something else. When he decided that it had to be the former, he turned away to help Aidan manuever a bit of sandwich to his mouth. "So Gram said that she can keep the boys Saturday night all night. I thought we might get back late."

"Yeah, about that," he told her as he shifted as his attention back her way. "It might go into a late hour, like you said. I was thinking that we could stay in the city. I mean, if that's okay. Of course, I would get two beds in the room or even you could have your own. I just don't want to have to try to drive back. I'd like for us to both enjoy it, maybe even have a little to drink."

A night out without responsibility isn't something she'd really had since Emily died, back in the tequila shot days when she only had one son at home with Gram. She was used to being the responsible mom, something she wore proudly but sometimes tiredly. "Um, that sounds kind of amazing," she giggled happily as she sipped her apple juice. Matt seemed to be watching her intently, the pink of his tongue darting across his bottom lip in something that looked a little like desire. "Thanks for the advance notice. I'll have to pack a little bag."

"Right, yeah, do that," he retorted distractedly just as Cameron announced that he was full and Aidan started to whine for some more apple slices. Elizabeth automatically slipped back into mom mode, taking Cam's trash with one hand while putting a couple more pieces of apple on Aidan's plate. The older of the two boys scampered off to play on the swings nearby, and Elizabeth's eyes followed him across the grass to where he disappeared. She shuffled the trash into a plastic bag while finishing her own lunch with her free hand. She was a master at doing six things at once. "Want me to take that?"

"That'd be nice," she relented as she handed off the bag so that she could eat her chicken with both hands. Aidan had finished his apple and laid his head in his mother's lap. Her fingers carded through his chestnut hair soothingly as he started to drift off. Cameron grew bored with the swings and came back over to sit next to his mother. He leaned his head against her elbow and closed his eyes. The afternoon sun was warm and enveloped the tired boys like a security blanket. It was this nice, quiet, peaceful thing that resonated so loudly and so clearly as a family moment, and Matt couldn't wait to have more moments like this with them.


	5. Chapter 5

A strapless navy satin dress and sapphire and diamond earrings – it was exactly what she had envisioned when she had agreed to accompany Matt to dinner in the city. He was due any minute to her grandmother's. She had wanted to get Aidan settled down for the night before they left for New York, so she had elected to get ready in her adolescent bedroom rather than at home. "Mommy, you look really pretty," Cameron announced from his perch on the edge of the bed. He was dressed in his new dinosaur pajamas, a gift from Matt during their day at the zoo. It reminded Elizabeth of when she was younger and she would watch her own mother get ready for a Saturday night out. She and Sara used to love to stay up past their bedtime to see her carefully pick out her jewelry and apply her makeup.

"Thank you, baby," Elizabeth said, smiling at her son in the mirror. The only difference between now and when she used to watch her own mother was that Cameron was more interested in the action figure doing aerial stunts on the mattress than Elizabeth's shade of lipstick. Just as she spritzed perfume on her wrists, she heard the chimes of the doorbell sound in the hallway. "Alright, little man, Matt's here."

She was just about to tell him to behave for Gram when the little boy took off running full speed down the stairs. He must have beat Audrey to the door because she heard him laughing with Matt a few minutes later. Elizabeth enjoy the happy sounds drifting up the stairs as they were soon joined by her grandmother. Grabbing her crystal-encrusted clutch, Elizabeth crept down the hall to listen to the conversation. She paused at the top of the landing to listen to the three of them chuckling together. It was a nice sound and an even better feeling.

"You should see Mommy, Matt, she looks really pretty," Cameron bragged.

"I am sure she does," Matt said agreeably. He reached down and mussed her son's hair. Cameron giggled and ducked his head. "By the way, I brought something for you and Aidan."

"What'd you bring me?" he asked excitedly.

"Cameron!" Audrey admonished him. "You know better than that. Where are your manners?"

"Sorry, Gram," he apologized immediately, looking up at his great-grandmother sheepishly. "Matt, thank you for the surprise."

"You're welcome, Cam," Matt replied, exchanging a knowing look with Audrey. Matt produced a pair of small tee shirts. "They're from the Yankees game. I went with my brother earlier this week and I thought you guys might like them."

"I love the Yankees!" Cameron said proudly. "We watch them with Daddy and Dante and Auntie Lulu. Dante is a big Yankees fan. Do you know Dante? He's fun."

"Yes, Dante is a lot of fun," Elizabeth agreed as she came slowly down the staircase. Audrey's face lit up with a proud smile while Cameron remained fixated on his present. Matt, however, was completely captivated by the luminous sight in front of him. With soft curls surrounding her face and the milky skin of her bare shoulders, she looked every bit an angel. "Sorry I took so long, I hope I was worth the wait." There was a teasing lilt to her voice that indicated she knew exactly how good she looked. She gazed at Matt with that same serene smile that she always seemed to wear when he was around. His breath was caught in his throat at the mere sight of her. "Shall we go?"

Matt nodded silently and Elizabeth laughed quietly to herself as she bent down to kiss her son. "You behave for Gram," she instructed him. "When she tells you to go to bed, that means it's bedtime. I will be back tomorrow before lunch so that we can go have a day at the park with Daddy." Cameron grinned at the mention of his father and hugged his mother tightly. Elizabeth reluctantly let go, and Matt was reminded how great a mother she truly was. She let go of him as she stood up, brushing imaginary wrinkles from her full skirt, and turned to Audrey. "I should be back by ten or so. I will have my cell phone if you need me. I also wrote down Matt's number and the number of the hotel on the pad by the phone in the hallway. Aidan should be out for the night, but he's had a little bit of a cough. There is some medicine..."

"Elizabeth, honey, I got it," Audrey told her gently. It was the first time she had spent a full night away from the boys like this since Jake died. "I was a nurse for more than forty years and I raised my own children as well as you and your sister. I am perfectly capable of administering cold medication. I want you to just focus on having a good time. You deserve it, dear. I am sure Matt will see to it that you have some fun."

"Yes, ma'am," Matt promised as he reached for Elizabeth's arm. She looped hers through his, her frame shaking a little from nerves. It had been a long time since she'd been on a first date, and this felt distinctly like a first date. It felt like a beginning, a start that could really come to mean something. That was scary. "Have a good evening."

With that, they were out the door. A shiny black town car was waiting at the curb, a uniformed driver waiting with the door open. Elizabeth slid into the plush leather seat, inhaling the familiar scent that had been like home to her when she had been married to Ric and later spent time with Jason. She had been ushered around like a Manhattan socialite during those periods of her life, and she sometimes missed the little perks that came with wealth. It wasn't something she had really had when she was with Lucky. They had been two working parents. There had been a little of it with Nikolas, but that whole thing had always felt too formal and disingenuous.

A few minutes later, they were pulling out onto the freeway on their way to New York City. Matt poured her a glass of champagne from the bottle chilling in the silver ice bucket and closed the privacy window that separated them from the driver. He spent a few minutes familiarizing her with some of the people that would be at the dinner and gave her a few notes about his research so that she could keep up with the conversation. After she seemed adequately prepped, he turned up the Vivaldi playing in the background and slid his arm around her.

"Did I get to tell you just how beautiful you look tonight?"

"Not yet," she said thickly, her eyes meeting his. "Better than scrubs, huh?"

"Different, not sure that it's better," he countered. "Beautiful either way."

She blushed prettily at the compliment. "Well, you look quite handsome yourself, Dr. Hunter."

"Well, thank you, Nurse Webber," he retorted, using her maiden name rather than her married one. "I've been looking forward to this all week. Not that I don't love hanging out with your boys, but I kind of wanted some one-on-one time with the prettiest nurse at GH."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Quite obviously," he answered with a wide grin. Matt slipped his hand into suit jacket and produced a small white box affixed with a navy satin ribbon. "I also picked something up for you while I was at the game with Patrick."

"Matt, you didn't have to do that," she said as she carefully removed the ribbon and then the box lid. Her face lit up as she discovered her gift. It was a plain silver keychain engraved with only the day's date.

He watched her deliberately trace the engraving. "I don't know why, but I think tonight is going to be a night to remember," he said softly before leaning over to capture her lips in a kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

_Six months later..._

"Cameron, Matt, dinner!"

Elizabeth stood in her sunny kitchen, watching as Aidan banged a spoon against his glass, waiting for her other two boys to make their way to the table. In two short weeks, she would officially be a doctor's wife. Life had progressed quickly, happily, and she was on the verge of having a family she thought might actually last. Matt was the most steady, dependable thing she had ever found, and she just happened to be madly in love with him. It didn't hurt that the boys adored him either, especially considering he adored them just as much.

"Smells wonderful," Matt murmured as he came in, pausing to kiss her on the forehead while Cameron crawled into his customary seat across from Aidan. "Cameron and I put a pretty big dent in his reading homework. I told him that he should probably save the art project for Mom. I think you're a little more qualified in that department."

"Got it," she grinned, handing him a large bowl of salad. She followed closely behind with a freshly baked lasagna. "We'll finish the art project tonight so that you don't have any homework to do when Daddy picks you up tomorrow." Cameron grinned as Aidan clapped at the mention of their father. Lucky was doing better these days and had even started seeing a cute stenographer he met a couple months ago when he had to testify. They had all four had dinner last week while the boys stayed with Audrey, and Elizabeth had told Lucky privately later that she seemed great. The whole co-parenting dynamic was actually working out.

"What are you going to do while we stay with Daddy?" Cameron asked as Matt scooped a small portion of lettuce onto his plate. "You can't do the baskets until we get back Sunday night, Mom. You promised."

Cameron had become obsessed with helping plan the wedding. She had promised him that it would be a day for all four of them, a real family event. Lucky was going to come with his girlfriend, and Jason and Sam had RSVPed positively a few weeks back. Maxie was bringing Spinelli, Matt told her last week, and Robin and Patrick were going to stand up with them. It would be an intimate affair followed by a two-week sojourn in St. Barts. Elizabeth was looking forward to the extended vacation but not to missing her boys.

"We'll wait," she promised. "Now get to work on dinner."

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Cameron was back at school and Elizabeth was starting her last week at work for awhile. She had taken a month off to finish up wedding details, enjoy her honeymoon and then spend time with the boys during Cam's fall break. Matt would be off for the wedding and the honeymoon but hadn't elected to take any other days. There were big surgeries scheduled for the week prior to their wedding, and he was making a big presentation on Friday that would release some of the latest results from his research. Elizabeth had read the summary last night and was quite impressed. She couldn't wait for the rest of the world to know just how brilliant her soon-to-be husband actually was.

"Nurse Webber, you're not off duty yet. You still have five days here at the hospital, and I expect you to spend your time tending to patients and not daydreaming," Epiphany reminded her as she dropped a stack of charts on the counter. "Mr. Alexander in 201 is waiting for his medication, Ms. Hobbes in 219 needs to have her vitals checked and Mr. Howard in 212 has an IV that needs to be changed."

Elizabeth ducked her head sheepishly and headed off to work. She had just finished changing out the IV on Mr. Howard when Matt caught her around the waist and pulled her into a nearby supply closed. "Hey, Beautiful," he whispered softly, tucking a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "You look good enough to kiss."

"Do your best, Doctor," she replied sultrily, licking her lips in anticipation moments before Matt pressed his mouth to hers. She hummed her appreciation happily as he pulled away, allowing her arms to remain locked behind his neck. "You know that Epiphany will kill both of us if she catches us in here again, right?" There had been an unfortunate incident two weeks ago that resulted in a firm lecture from the head nurse. Elizabeth hadn't had the courage to tell her that it was completely worth it. "But seriously, I probably should get back to work. I have a lot I need to get done before I leave."

"About that..." Matt trailed off. He was nervous and had been thinking about his prosposal for awhile. "Look, with this research, I'm making a lot more money than I was last year. In fact, it's enough where you wouldn't have to work if you didn't want. Now, I'm not telling you to quit, but I thought that maybe you could take those art classes you were talking about last month. You would have the time – and the space – to really work on your painting. You don't have to answer now, but I hope you will at least think about it."

Quitting work and painting full time had always been a dream for Elizabeth, starting all those years ago when she used to waitress at Kelly's. But she had come to love nursing and couldn't see giving it up completely. "What if we compromise and I work part time? I am sure Epiphany could set up a schedule that would have me at the hospital in the mornings so that I could take classes in the afternoon and still be home in plenty of time to pick Cameron up at the bus stop. We could see how that goes for awhile and then reassess after Christmas."

"Whatever you want to do, my dear, I just want you to be happy."

"Then show up on Saturday afternoon and marry me," she replied. "That's all I really need."

So six days later, Matt made good on that and kissed her soundly in front of her sons, her grandmother, her siblings and half of Port Charles in the midst of fallen leaves and cool October air. They danced the night away on the makeshift dance floor, old country songs the perfect soundtrack to their unconventional outdoor wedding. They held the boys close the entire night and Elizabeth only cried a little when Lucky brought them to the limo to say goodbye before heading to the airport.

They spent their entire honeymoon being completely relaxed, and Elizabeth couldn't remember ever feeling more at peace. They made love and ate good food and drank expensive wine. They shopped in little villages and swam naked in the ocean and stopped in every art museum she could find. They picked out souveniers for the boys and sent postcards to their family and took too many photographs to count. She would sketch and he would draw and they would dance together in the moonlight. It was perfect, but she missed the boys terribly. As much fun as she had while she was gone, nothing felt better than holding her two sons when she stepped off the plane. There was nothing she loved more than coming home.

Four weeks later, Elizabeth sat alone in her bathroom, leaning against the counter as she looked down at the plastic applicator. The plus sign told her all that she needed to know, and when Matt knocked on the door, she held it up just in time for his face to breakout into the biggest grin he'd ever known. They waited a few weeks to tell the boys and then Grams before having a conversation with Lucky about it. He hugged his ex-wife tightly and congratulated Matt, telling them both he knew firsthand what a great mother Elizabeth was. She continued to work at the hospital and take her classes, not slowing down too much thanks to very little morning sickness.

By the time the third trimester rolled around, Elizabeth had finished up most of her classes for the spring semester and took a leave of absence from the hospital. Matt bought her a case of non-toxic paint so that she could decorate the nursery in pinks and lavendars, the first time she'd get to set up a room for a daughter. The boys doted over her constantly, trying their best to never fight and to pick up their toys and just be good for her. They talked constantly about their baby sister and made suggestions for names. Aidan had proposed Ruby after his favorite cartoon, _Max and Ruby_, while Cameron was obsessed with naming her Susie after _Cars_.

On the hottest day of the year, right in the middle of July and two weeks overdue, Elizabeth's water broke, and she was rushed to the hospital to finally give birth. Audrey Emmaline Hunter was born within a couple hours, healthy as could be and as beautiful as all get out. Cameron stood on his tip toes while Lucky held Aidan up so they could see their new sister in the nursery. Matt waved to them from the other side of the glass as he fed his daughter her first bottle. Elizabeth nearly cried when she saw her sons with their sister for the first time, and Lucky exchanged a knowing look that told her he missed Jake too.

After the chaos died down and Audrey was in the nursery for the evening, Elizabeth curled up with her husband in the dark hospital room and gazed out at the sky full of stars. She thought about her son and her grandfather and all the losses she had incurred. She thought about Matt's mom, how she should have been there for this and about her own mother, who couldn't have been bothered to show up. And then she tucked herself under Matt's arm and whispered her prayer of thanks to God. Matt kissed her forehead and mumbled a prayer of his own before looking into those green eyes that started all this nearly two years ago.

"I love you, Nurse Webber," he murmured.

"I love you, too, Dr. Hunter."

_Fin._


End file.
